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I was bored at work today...
Aug. 21st, 2013 09:21 pmSo there is this little article from the Huffington Post about 23 Signs You May Be an Introvert that is making the rounds on Facebook today. I read it and I have to say that I was NOT surprisingly the opposite of most of the ‘signs’. And I just kept nodding at how the signs matched the people I know who are introverts. However, there were a couple of things at which I had to scrunch up my face and with which I have to take issue.
First, there is sign number fifteen, which says that “you notice details that others don’t.” I’m a big fan of personality tests of the Myers Briggs variety where they measure you tendency to either side of a spectrum for each of four personality categories. Extraversion-Introversion (how one reacts to others), Intuiting-Sensing (environment processing), Thinking-Feeling (processing approach to decisions, situations), Judging-Perceiving (response type). Sign fifteen is really more about intuiting-sensing traits than extraversion-introversion. You can be either E or I and still be a sensor. Intuitors are more about big picture, whereas sensors are more about detail. And it is a spectrum, so a person can be equally prone to both or far to either side. I usually fall hard to the E on the E-I spectrum in testing and slightly to S on the N-S spectrum (they use N for intuiting, since they use I for introversion). And if anybody cares, I split the T-F and fall hard on the J (but I’m trying to work on that).
Second, there are signs seven and sixteen, which are a conundrum for me taken together. Seven says “Downtime Doesn’t Feel Unproductive to You” and sixteen says, “You have a constantly running inner monologue” with the accompanying quote that “most extroverts don’t have the same internal talking as we do.” OK. Downtime feels very unproductive to me. I get slightly tense and uncomfortable when I don’t have anything to occupy my mind. That makes me not an introvert, per this article. But the reason I get slightly tense and uncomfortable is BECAUSE I have a constantly running inner monologue. My inner monologue wants me to be productive. My inner monologue harangues me about being lazy and goes off on abusive tangents if I’m not side-tracking it. That does not recharge me – it causes me a lot of stress. So I either have to be engaged in something productive that occupies my brain or I have to use my ‘downtime’ for reading something really interesting, watching an absorbing movie or show, or making up stories in my head. I make up a lot of stories in my head when I’m cleaning house. None that would interest anyone else in the slightest, but they make me happy. Or I make lists in my head or do long range planning. I cannot relax very well without a good book. I totally suck at just sitting on the couch and channel surfing and watching snippets of mindless TV. It makes me fidgety and hungry. So what does that mean?
First, there is sign number fifteen, which says that “you notice details that others don’t.” I’m a big fan of personality tests of the Myers Briggs variety where they measure you tendency to either side of a spectrum for each of four personality categories. Extraversion-Introversion (how one reacts to others), Intuiting-Sensing (environment processing), Thinking-Feeling (processing approach to decisions, situations), Judging-Perceiving (response type). Sign fifteen is really more about intuiting-sensing traits than extraversion-introversion. You can be either E or I and still be a sensor. Intuitors are more about big picture, whereas sensors are more about detail. And it is a spectrum, so a person can be equally prone to both or far to either side. I usually fall hard to the E on the E-I spectrum in testing and slightly to S on the N-S spectrum (they use N for intuiting, since they use I for introversion). And if anybody cares, I split the T-F and fall hard on the J (but I’m trying to work on that).
Second, there are signs seven and sixteen, which are a conundrum for me taken together. Seven says “Downtime Doesn’t Feel Unproductive to You” and sixteen says, “You have a constantly running inner monologue” with the accompanying quote that “most extroverts don’t have the same internal talking as we do.” OK. Downtime feels very unproductive to me. I get slightly tense and uncomfortable when I don’t have anything to occupy my mind. That makes me not an introvert, per this article. But the reason I get slightly tense and uncomfortable is BECAUSE I have a constantly running inner monologue. My inner monologue wants me to be productive. My inner monologue harangues me about being lazy and goes off on abusive tangents if I’m not side-tracking it. That does not recharge me – it causes me a lot of stress. So I either have to be engaged in something productive that occupies my brain or I have to use my ‘downtime’ for reading something really interesting, watching an absorbing movie or show, or making up stories in my head. I make up a lot of stories in my head when I’m cleaning house. None that would interest anyone else in the slightest, but they make me happy. Or I make lists in my head or do long range planning. I cannot relax very well without a good book. I totally suck at just sitting on the couch and channel surfing and watching snippets of mindless TV. It makes me fidgety and hungry. So what does that mean?
